Nice write up by bearcat blog OhVaristy on UC AD Mike Bohn's tenure ...

https://ohvarsity.com/life-in-the-bohn-zone-681b0fb7377

Life In The Bohn Zone
A look at Athletic Director Mike Bohn’s success in Cincinnati, and why many Bearcat fans have been slow to praise him


Today, the University of Cincinnati is introduced the latest athletic department addition — current Xavier head baseball coach Scott Googins.

Googins has had great success at Xavier, a place without the history, facilities, or conference typically required to have success in the college baseball world. It’s a home run hire for the Bearcats, and it’s just the latest in a line of successes from Athletic Director Mike Bohn. It’s about time somebody formally acknowledged the work he’s done at UC.

Bohn was hired by UC in February 2014. That was just over three years ago, but the landscape of the athletic department was vastly different back then. Nippert was a construction site, Tommy Tuberville was head coach, and many Olympic programs looked vastly different than they do now.

Bohn saw the Nippert project through to completion, which seems like a simple task. However, the university has had ADs in the past who would have somehow messed that up. Bohn brought it home.

In July 2014, he hired Mandy Commons-DiSalle to oversee the swimming and diving program. In her tenure, the Bearcats have 10 individual AAC titles and have established 18 new school records.

Last year, Bohn renegotiated Tommy Tuberville’s contract, allowing a smoother exit when the time was right in December. I’m still not sure how he pulled it off, but the Bearcats were able to make a coaching change earlier than expected and the buyout wound up being lower than it was in the original contract.

Bohn sealed up the football program fairly quickly by bringing in Luke Fickell. Many, myself included, were a bit confused by the move. He checked very few boxes from my standpoint, and then there was talk of some kind of “computer analysis” that supported his hiring. It was a bit of a bold move, and while Fickell has yet to coach a game, the last six months of Bearcats football have been some of the most exciting in program history. Fickell immediately out-recruited Tuberville in his first class, despite an abbreviated window of time, and his first full class is on target to be the best in program history. In six months of offseason, Fickell has probably done more for UC football’s local perception than Tuberville and Butch Jones did combined. Bohn saw that potential.

If the new hires weren’t enough, Bohn has also been fantastic about keeping the right coaches on board. Women’s soccer coach Neil Stafford — who won an AAC Tournament Championship in the Bohn tenure — remains in place. Volleyball coach Molly Alvey — who piloted the Bearcats to an NCAA Tournament appearance before being named head coach of the collegiate national team — is still here. Most notably, Bohn has kept Mick Cronin on board in Clifton, in part by getting him a new arena.

Bohn’s biggest stamp on the university broke ground following the conclusion of the 2016–17 basketball season in March. The new Fifth Third Arena is the latest in a line of infrastructure updates the university has seen in recent years, and it’s perhaps the most deserved. The arena was badly out-of-date, and the new facility looks pristine. Bohn not only got the project ready to go, but he intelligently avoided the beckoning call of a permanent home at US Bank Arena, and negotiated the best short-term deal for UC when he signed up to play the 2017–18 season at Northern Kentucky University.

And it’s not only these big picture successes that make the Mike Bohn tenure stand out. There are also achievements in the classroom, and innovations in gender-equality in athletics administration.

Say what you want about the current state of UC athletics, but I think you’d have a very tough case arguing that things haven’t improved greatly in the last three years.


So why are so few Bearcats raving about all that Bohn has done in Cincinnati?

I think the answer is both simple and understandable. Not only is the school still languishing in the American Athletic Conference — a situation that, in hindsight, appears to have been well beyond Mike Bohn’s control — but the optics of the Bohn tenure have rarely been pretty.

First, Bohn took over UC at a tumultuous time. The fan base was in a panic about the conference situation and the end of Bohn’s tenure in Colorado made many feel unease, especially considering outgoing AD Whit Babcock was viewed largely favorably at the time.

Once the Bohn tenure got underway, things often looked messy and out of control.

First there was the spring 2016 flirtation between Cronin and UNLV. I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of what was happening there, but I get the sense that Bohn may have let things get a little too far before reeling Cronin back in and ensuring that an arena renovation was on the way. In the end, Bohn came out with what was best for UC, but it wasn’t the prettiest.

Then there was the downfall of the Tuberville tenure. Bohn didn’t hire Tommy, and he ended up pulling the plug at the right time. But for a while there in the middle, things looked pretty bad. Word of a contract re-negotiation got out at a really poor time, and the fan base smashed the panic button halfway through the 2016 season. In the end, the contract restructuring seemed to work in UC’s favor, Tuberville was removed when he needed to be, and even an “underwhelming” replacement hire has been a huge success so far.






more...

https://ohvarsity.com/life-in-the-bohn-zone-681b0fb7377

I think you also have to include the deal with Under Armour and the decision to as well. Although I am not a fan of the "Cincinnati Stripe", prefer the Adidas football uniforms over the UA (but like our UA basketball better) and I think the UA merchandise is expensive, the deal compensates UC pretty well. Of course, one could argue the guy Whit Babcock hired to coach UC got UA and UC together, it was still under Bohn's watch and I am sure he was key in the negotiations.

UC has also upgraded the housing for the athletes as well this past year and the Cost of Attendance is still among the highest in the country IIRC. These are also feathers in his cap.

Edit: One more I just remembered is the new scoreboard and sound system we are getting this summer.

I've been very encouraged by the work Mike Bohn has done on the coaching hire front, keeping Mick around, getting the basketball upgrades finalized, with the underarmour deal and a commitment to the nonrevenue sports (which honestly seems to have started under Ono and the previous regime). Time will tell how things go and the biggest deal is still trying to get UC back to a P5 conference, but I think he's helping position UC nicely. I no many criticized not bailing on Tuberville sooner, but I thought he handled it very well given his options at the time. He worked out an extension that allowed UC the flexibility to fire Tuberville at a reasonable price immediately after the season (remember the previous year he had to wait until after the bowl games to get that lower price). I think that was smart and best positioned UC to be competitive in the coaching search last season.

I think a lot of people levied unfair criticism on Bohn early because of the Big 12/Expansion process, but that really is out of his control. The apparel contact he negotiated along with the hiring and retaining he has done in the coaching ranks has been great and he has been able to fully finance a major facility upgrade along with way. In general, outside of football, our sports teams have performed markedly better since he has come around both athletically and academically, with conference championships in Volleyball, W. Soccer, and W. Track, while Baseball and M Basketball are continuing an upward trajectory. The jury is still out RE: of-field performance of Football and Baseball, but they hires look very good on paper...which is odd considering the criticism of his football hiring practices at Colorado. He did pick Tad Boyle for basketball though, and he has taken CU to more NCAA tourneys in his 7 years than they had been to in the 56 years before then combined.

(06-07-2017 09:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Edit: One more I just remembered is the new scoreboard and sound system we are getting this summer.

Is this definitely happening?

(06-07-2017 10:48 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  

(06-07-2017 09:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Edit: One more I just remembered is the new scoreboard and sound system we are getting this summer.

Is this definitely happening?

According to the Business Journal it is...I haven't been near the stadium this summer to really check on the work however.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/ne...adium.html

(06-07-2017 10:48 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  

(06-07-2017 09:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Edit: One more I just remembered is the new scoreboard and sound system we are getting this summer.

Is this definitely happening?

There is a couple week window in August where it is supposed to happen

It hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread, but I think Bohn is further maximizing the AD / University's ability to realize greater revenue outside of the traditional channels (such as with FC Cincy, the emphasis of luxury suite additions in arena upgrades, etc.) when we have unsteady horizons due to our conference affiliation. Some are less than thrilled about the Nippert Notching incident, but if it brings us a new sound system and scoreboard that we were bound to pay for anyway I think that is the biggest issue with gameday experience and will bring Nippert into the class of college football venues.

It is interesting to see the change in opinions over the past 6 months. I feel like from the end of the 2015 season to the end of the 2016 football really disliked Bohn. I believe the term "BOHNer" was thrown around a lot, and people wanted both him and "Flubbs" out.

Bohn had a rough road with the public since he stepped into that cadaver of a hire by his predecessor and was stuck until the time was right.

He's done a very good job on the decisions that were his and were not screwed up before he got here.

He has a done a really good job and he seems to be very personable and approachable also.
I remember going back and forth with some people about 5/3rd arena, a few years ago, and when the new Arena is complete then I think others will agree that it was a dump. It is going to be one of the better facilities in the country. It is a pro town and fans like professional facility amenities.

It seems like when Bohn came to UC, he was viewed as a bit of a questionable hire due to his stint at Colorado as a result of a series of hires that resulted in fairly piss-poor football and basketball programs. I never quite understood that criticism; I mean, in the example of Dan Hawkins, he went 53-11 at Boise State, who the hell wouldn't have hired him at that point?

To me, Bohn was hired for two reasons; facilities upgrade and conference realignment experience. He helped see the Nippert expansion to completion, although some criticized him for maybe taking TOO much credit, and FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got 5/3rd renovations underway. On the conference realignment side, there's not much he can do when the Big 12 acts like a bunch of cowards when they finally got in a room together. I'd say he gets an "A" for positioning UC in as strong of a position as possible if/when the realignment carousel starts turning again.

Then for coaches, well, Mick is still here and continues to operate the program at a high level. I know some were critical about Bohn since he dealt with Mick's extension at arm's length, preferring to go through lawyers and agents. But I totally get all of that from a business perspective. And he replaced a guy asleep at the wheel with an energetic young coach hell-bent on re-establishing Cincinnati football atop the G5. Fickell's ability to actually win games/championships/bowls at UC is still TBD but so far, so good with that hire.

Overall, not much to complain about with Bohn.

(06-07-2017 10:54 AM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  

(06-07-2017 10:48 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  

(06-07-2017 09:48 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Edit: One more I just remembered is the new scoreboard and sound system we are getting this summer.

Is this definitely happening?

There is a couple week window in August where it is supposed to happen

Cool. That's good to know. Thanks!

(06-07-2017 01:21 PM)cinbinsportsfan Wrote:  It seems like when Bohn came to UC, he was viewed as a bit of a questionable hire due to his stint at Colorado as a result of a series of hires that resulted in fairly piss-poor football and basketball programs. I never quite understood that criticism; I mean, in the example of Dan Hawkins, he went 53-11 at Boise State, who the hell wouldn't have hired him at that point?

To me, Bohn was hired for two reasons; facilities upgrade and conference realignment experience. He helped see the Nippert expansion to completion, although some criticized him for maybe taking TOO much credit, and FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got 5/3rd renovations underway. On the conference realignment side, there's not much he can do when the Big 12 acts like a bunch of cowards when they finally got in a room together. I'd say he gets an "A" for positioning UC in as strong of a position as possible if/when the realignment carousel starts turning again.

Then for coaches, well, Mick is still here and continues to operate the program at a high level. I know some were critical about Bohn since he dealt with Mick's extension at arm's length, preferring to go through lawyers and agents. But I totally get all of that from a business perspective. And he replaced a guy asleep at the wheel with an energetic young coach hell-bent on re-establishing Cincinnati football atop the G5. Fickell's ability to actually win games/championships/bowls at UC is still TBD but so far, so good with that hire.

Overall, not much to complain about with Bohn.

I think what you mean to say is when ESPN lobbied them all to not expand by offering them more money.

One big turning point for me was his mending fences with Mick, when it looked like he might be gone. And obviously moving on the basketball facilities.

I think the grade is still "Incomplete" but things certainly seem to be better now than they have been through the past several years.

It is difficult to analyze these things while they are in progress. I remember being thrilled at the job Whit Babcock was doing...at the time...but it became clear after he left that Babcock screwed over UC in so many ways and managed to leave while the getting was good.

So...yeah... Bohn seems like he's doing well right now. He got rid of "The Walking Dead" (our previous head football coach), he's retained the good coaches, and he's made what looks to be a good hire for the baseball team. The 5/3 renno is underway and things at Nippert seem to be basically completed.

Let's see where we are in a few years. I guarantee that if things go sideways somehow, the "Bohn-head" comments will come back with a vengeance. But there is reason to be optimistic.

I have talked to Mike Bohn four times and enjoyed it each time. He is a very enthusiastic guy, but I think some question his dedication to this particular university (is his family still in Colorado?)

I don't think Bohn can be faulted for anything realignment related.

He talked Cronin down from the ledge.

He got rid of Tuberville and made what looks to be a great hire in Fickell.

He quickly replaced our rising baseball coach with a proven coach stolen from our cross-town rival.

He oversaw the end of the Nippert renovations and helped raise the money to get started on Fifth Third.

I'm not ready to crown him king yet, but I don't know how anyone could say he's doing any less than a satisfactory job so far.

50-0 is a blowout in football. In a poll, 50-0 is REALLY something.

Who was responsible for hiring Bohn here?